Easy Weeknight Dinner: Chicken Stew

When my husband and I moved in together in our twenties, we didn’t have a lot of money. Every Sunday, he would make up a big pot of something that we would have during the week, like meatballs and gravy or chicken stew. With the addition of kids to the family, we moved away from soups and stews even though they’re frugal and filling.

Since I need to stretch our grocery budget as much as I can while providing nutritious meals, I’ve started including stews in the menu. I like this chicken stew recipe because I can include veggies in it which some of the kids will eat, and the stew is cooked in chicken stock. I always make my chicken stock with lots of vegetable peelings to get as much nutrition and flavor into it as possible. The other joy of this recipe is that it can be made at the last minute if you already have veggies prepped in your fridge.

You can freeze this; the orzo pasta I use holds up pretty well to freezing. If you’re not sure about the pasta, simply make the stew without pasta, freeze it, and then cook the pasta in the stew when you’re reheating it.

Chicken (I use meat picked off a carcass, or one split chicken breast, or leftover cooked meat)

Carrots

Onion

Celery

Parsnip

Mushroom

Minced Garlic

Butter

4 cups chicken stock

4 cups water

1 box of orzo pasta or any other very small pasta (Rice could work, too as a gluten-free option)

Salt and Pepper

Dried parsley - optional

Instructions

Prepare the vegetables by chopping them into bite-sized pieces. I vary the amount of vegetables according to my whims and whatever is in the vegetable drawer.

In a large flat pot, saute the chopped vegetables in several Tablespoons of butter until slightly soft and translucent. Cooking them in butter prevents them from getting browned. Add the minced garlic towards the end.

Add the chicken stock and water to the pot and bring to a boil. Simmer the vegetables for about 15 minutes.

Add the pasta, turn off the heat, put the lid on the pot, and let it sit for at least 15 to 20 minutes. The pasta will absorb the liquid.

Meet Barb

Barb Hoyer has written 4364 posts.

After working in the fundraising world for over ten years, Barb is an avid runner, writer, photographer, parent volunteer, and lover of dictionaries and thesauruses. Wife to an engineer and mom to 5 kids, Barb lives in the suburbs of Philly. Her idea of relaxation is an afternoon on the couch with a stack of books.

Comments

This is definitely going on our winter foods list. I am trying to compile a good list of “stretch it out” meals. Thanks for linking up to Tuesday Greens!Becky recently posted..Day #40: My Hardest Challenge in the Garden

This looks delicious! We tend to move toward soups/stews/chili in the fall. Typically on Sunday I will have something going in the crock pot and then we eat it for several meals throughout the week. I also really like to make veggie stock and have that on hand in the freezer for when I do want to make a quick soup. Thanks for linking up with what i am eating!Heather recently posted..The Christmas Post – Part Two

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